Happy Halloween! As part of its regularly-occurring MOTUnes Monday, today, the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities presents Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon.” You could say that this one is out of this world!

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Under Construction: An Autolib' car-share station in progress Source: The Transport Politic

There’s little question that car-sharing companies like PhillyCarShare and ZipCar have changed the way people get around. Car-sharing allows users to rent vehicles by the hour or day so that they do not necessarily need to buy or regularly have access to a car in order to get to places that may be difficult or impossible to reach by public transportation.

A recent article from The Transport Politic discusses how Paris, France’s capital, is making new strides in the car-share market. The city recently introduced Autolib’, a new car-sharing program that is modeled after its successful Velib’ bike-sharing system. Autolib’ will use electric vehicles in its fleet. The cars will have their own stations (like that above) with their own electric plug-ins.

One of the most innovative features of this program is that users will now have the freedom to drive from one destination to another without having to return cars to their original locations. Not having to drop off cars where users pick them up will potentially increase the accessibility, flexibility, and ease of car-sharing.

In the United States, a similar car-sharing program, Car2Go, is gaining ground. Developed by Daimler, Car2Go provides users with access to extremely fuel-efficient Smart Fortwo commuter cars, which get 41 miles-per-gallon hwy.

The program allows users to use the vehicles as long or as little as they like and does not require the return of vehicles to their initial pick-up locations. Car2Go is currently active in Austin, Texas, as well as overseas in Ulm and Hamburg in Germany and Vancouver, Canada. Daimler is also working to implement all-electric vehicle Car2Go programs in San Diego, California, and Amsterdam.

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It’s electric! Every Monday, the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities (MOTU) brings you MOTUnes Monday, a selection of some of our favorite transportation and utilities-related songs. This week, we’re hoping to brighten your day with this all-time classic.

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Every Wednesday, the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities (MOTU) highlights some interesting research related to or innovations in transportation, sustainability, or energy.

Today, we present the newly-released 2011 Urban Mobility Report from the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), which focuses on congestion problems occurring in cities across the nation and offers solutions.

The report discusses how commuters would face many more hours in traffic if public transportation services were ended.

Some interesting facts come out of the report:

The average commuter spends roughly 34 hours delayed in traffic a year.

Congestion is expensive. At a cost of $100 billion, this amounts to almost $750 for every commuting American.

Congestion is expanding beyond the typical “rush hour” period. Approximately 40% of delays occur during the middle of the day and overnight.

In 2010, the annual delay per peak auto commuter was 42 person-hours. This measure is the annual sum of daily trip-delays by all persons traveling during peak hours (6 – 10 amand 3 – 7 pm). This places Philadelphia as the 14th most congested city in the United States.

The total cost of congestion in Philadelphia in 2010 was $2.842 million. In comparison to other cities around the country, Philadelphia is ranked 8th in this category. This is the same status that Philadelphia had in 2009.

The cost per peak auto commuter in Philadelphia in 2010 was $864 (14th in the nation).

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Every Monday, the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities (MOTU) brings you MOTUnes Monday, a selection of some of our favorite transportation related songs. This week, we highlight Nate King Cole’s classic rendition of Route 66, which pays tribute to one of the most famous roads in America.

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Every Wednesday, the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities (MOTU) highlights some interesting research related to or innovations in transportation, sustainability, or energy.

Today, we pay tribute to Steve Jobs, who, in his last public appearance, discussed the importance of supporting our environment and sustainability.

While he focuses particularly on how Apple’s new campus in Cupertino, California, will feature new environmentally-friendly elements, he provides a strong example of how we should be thinking about our environment and how to care for it.

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Every Monday, the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities (MOTU) brings you MOTUnes Monday, a selection of some of our favorite transportation related songs. While the band, the American Dream, doesn’t think you can get to Heaven on the Frankford El, we aren’t so sure.

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Every Monday, the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities (MOTU) brings you MOTUnes Monday, a selection of some of our favorite transportation related songs. Who doesn’t love Arlo Guthrie or his motorcycle song?